Currently, computers have attained wide acceptance in various fields since such devices are exceptionally useful tools for executing a considerable variety of tasks. Scientific developments and the use of new technologies have contributed to this fact and, at the same time, have accelerated the arrival of newer and better computers into the market, at a lower production cost. Among the components That have evolved to The highest degree, Central Processing Units (CPUs) stand out, to cite an example; they arc increasingly becoming faster, smaller, and with more computing power than preceding generations. Other components that show a similar degree of technological refinement are devices used to provide computers with a main non-volatile storage mediums devices whose content remains even if the electrical energy supply is turned off, as is currently the case with hard disks or flash memory banks, which are becoming increasingly faster, more reliable, inexpensive, and with more capacity.
Nevertheless, in spite of much important technological advancement, such as the above-mentioned, all computers equipped with a main non-volatile storage medium, without exception, show evidence of an observable fact that originates from the same operating system that makes them useful. This phenomenon reveals itself as a gradual decrease in the performance of a computer, a reduction in its overall speed, so to speak, which becomes more significant with the day-to-day use of the equipment. As is to be expected, the user perceives the effects of this phenomenon because he/she must wait more time on every occasion for his/her tasks to be processed, even though the same computer performed better months before.
What is File Fragmentation?
In order to perceive the existence of this phenomenon, a good example to refer to is a typical “IBM® PC Compatible” computer, like the ones used daily in millions of offices, with a hard disk set up as its main non-volatile storage medium, as follows.
As the months go by, the user perceives a slow but sure increase in waiting times that reduce his/her productivity; little by little, his/her computer becomes less quick than when it was new. At the end of the first year, it is noticeable to the user that the equipment's performance has diminished to such an extreme that using it becomes unbearable. He/she might be able to wait for another year, but will eventually have to resort to professional help. Traditional techniques offer the following options to the user: (1) buy a newer, faster computer; (2) expand the existing hardware capacity, or up-grade it; (3) re-install the operating system and applications; (4) defragment the hard disk; or (5) a combination of the above. No matter what option is chosen, however, the effect on recovered performance will be temporary, short-term, because this is a recurrent phenomenon and the performance decrease will eventually reappear.
The referred phenomenon is known as “file fragmentation”. It reveals itself in the main non-volatile storage medium of a computer. Its main cause is the operating system installed in the equipment, since this software is the one that manages the available non-volatile storage space. Its other cause is the traditional configuration of the storage device, which has not changed for more than twenty years as is the case of the “IBM® PC Compatible” platform, to mention an example.
How Does File Fragmentation Begin?
In order to describe with more detail how file fragmentation originates, another example will be useful. This time the focus will be on a personal computer, a new “IBM® PC Compatible” one, supplied with a hard disk as its main non-volatile storage medium, and with Microsoft® Windows 95® as its operating system, as is described as follows.
The hard disk in this computer requires a preliminary set-up in order to begin operation. The traditional techniques applied to date on hard disks have a distinctive feature: they create a “primary partition” that is configured as the “active partition”, and that occupies all, if not most, of the disk's storage capacity. Next, the disk is “formatted”. The actions of “partitioning” and “formatting” a hard disk are most important, since this is the only way to establish on its surface a structure composed of hundreds of thousands and even millions of tiny portions of equal size (usually of 4,096 bytes) called “clusters”. The usefulness of clusters is apparent whenever the operating system reads files from the hard disk or writes files onto it.
Only after partitioning and formatting said main non-volatile storage medium, it is possible to achieve software installation, of operating system as well as applications, so that the computer is left ready to work.
It is important to mention here that, for over twenty years, manufacturers of this kind of computers have been using the same configuration for hard disks. The feature that makes this traditional configuration so particular is that four basic elements for machine operation co-exist all within only one space, having to themselves all, if not most, of such media's storage capacity. The above-mentioned four basic elements are: (1) files that are part of the operating system; (2) temporary work files and those frequently up-dated, used by the operating system as well as by applications, such as the virtual memory swap file, the temporary Internet files, and the logs for errors and for events; (3) files that are part of the applications installed; and (4) the user's files. Similarly, vital and non-vital elements for machine operation share the same storage space. This traditional configuration of a hard disk might appear to be just that: an old-fashioned and harmless way of making work a non-volatile storage medium inside a computer. As will become apparent later, however, several significant and adverse consequences to the owner of computing equipment arise from such technique.
After explaining the previous issue, it is now possible to discuss what happens when writing, reading or erasing a file on the hard disk. (1) When writing a file, the operating system first divides the data into chunks whose size (usually 4,096 bytes) is equal to that of a cluster. Then, it records such pieces onto the hard disk on the first available clusters that it finds, marking such clusters on a “map” as unavailable. (2) On the other hand, when reading a file is required, the operating system searches the “map” for those clusters that were used to store the file, gathering the bits of data and delivering them “in one piece” to whomever requested the reading. (3) Finally, in order to erase a file, the operating system again searches the “map” for those clusters related to the file, and marks them up as available, which causes the emergence of “gaps” that will be vacant on subsequent writings.
In order to understand how file fragmentation begins, it is necessary to bear in mind that writing, reading, and erasing clusters goes on dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of times during a working session. For this reason, the emergence of “gaps” is progressive, and subsequent writings fill them by placing the new bits of data in clusters that turn out to be disperse, non-contiguous; that are not together, so to speak, which fragments the files that are being written without fail. Consequently, with the normal use of the equipment, the contents of the hard disk become increasingly fragmented due to the writing and the erasing operations that the operating system continuously performs.
The result of the above is the afore-mentioned phenomenon of “fragmentation”, sometimes called “hard disk fragmentation” when it takes place on such kind of media; albeit, in reality, as previously explained, what is fragmented is not the storage medium itself, but the files that it contains.
Why is the Operating System the Main Cause of Fragmentation?
The underlying reason that explains why the operating system participates as the main cause of such phenomenon is nothing less than the need to complete the task of writing files on the hard disk in the fastest possible manner, without taking time to find contiguous clusters that would allow a more efficient access to data on later readings.
The activities that induce an operating system to fragment the contents of the main non-volatile storage medium include, among others, the following. (1) Turning-on and turning-off the computer, (2) managing the virtual memory swap file, (3) opening and closing applications, (4) opening and closing data files, (5) sending files to the printer, (6) surfing on the Internet, and (7) sending and receiving e-mail. Being almost all of these tasks originated by user activities, at the end, they are completed by the operating system itself, within the computer core, in the form of reading, writing and erasing operations on said storage medium.
Why Does Fragmentation Decrease Computer Performance?
Fragmentation reduces computer performance because it progressively takes more time for the main non-volatile storage medium to complete those file reading, writing and erasing operations managed by the operating system. For example, in the particular case of a hard disk, the reading heads are required to achieve a vast number of moves in order to (1) read all disperse clusters that put together a fragmented file; or else, (2) to find those available clusters, that are usually also disperse, in order to write new files.
Taking into account that, during a working session, the operating system handles the reading, writing and erasing operations of hundreds, thousands and even millions of files in the non-volatile storage medium, it is clear why the performance of a computer gradually decays as long as its contents keep on fragmenting.
What is the Most Common Remedy for Fragmentation?
The traditional solution that solves this problem is a process known as “file defragmentation”, sometimes called “hard disk defragmentation” when this kind of media is involved. Such process implies the relocation of disperse bits of data from all those fragmented files within the main non-volatile storage medium, in a way that all subsequent readings and writings carried out by the operating system are more efficient and take less time. The positive effects of defragmentation are always temporary, as long as the files do not fragment again, however.
Intrinsic Characteristics of the Traditional Defragmentation of Hard Disks
Since the hard disk is currently the most widely used main non-volatile storage medium on the market, it is necessary to examine certain inherent attributes of its traditional defragmentation process. Before that, however, it is fit to clarify the use of the term “traditional” in the above title: this is so because such process is based on the aforementioned traditional techniques of hard disk configuration.
Traditional Defragmentation of a Hard Disk, What is it About?
Each one of the fragmented files in a hard disk consists of a group of scattered portions. At a physical level, such portions written on the disk occupy a set of dispersed clusters due to the way the file was stored. Thus, in order to eliminate file fragmentation, a defragmenting tool uses a specific algorithm to create a complex plan of movements that it later uses to relocate the content of those scattered clusters. A typical way of defragmenting a hard disk is to reorganize its contents as follows: (1) each of the files “in one piece”, all portions together and in sequential order; (2) all of the files located as one block, at the beginning of the disk; (3) free space located also in one block, but towards the end of the disk.
How Long Does it Take to Defragment a Hard Disk?
Due to the immense amount of work that such process implies, the traditional defragmentation of a hard disk takes anywhere from 1 to 8 hours (or more), depending on the storage capacity of the disk, its access time, its data transfer rate, the amount of files stored, and the defragmenting tool used. There is a published case, however, wherein the user had to stop such process because it had lasted for three days and three nights without completing more than 10% of progress.
Considering the above, it is clear why most people consider the process of traditional defragmentation of a hard disk as a notoriously tedious task, even though it is possible to improve the performance of a computer with it.
What Defragmenting Tools are Available on the Market?
There are many programs on the market that offer to defragment the contents of a hard disk. The latest versions of the MS-DOS® operating system already had a tool for such purpose. In like manner, the widespread Microsoft® Windows 95® operating system integrated a program that eliminated fragmentation in a simple way. A few years later, Microsoft® Windows 98® included a little more sophisticated defragmenter that had some inconveniences in its use.
Software manufacturers like, for example, Network Associates®, Symantec®, and Ontrack® (previously Mijenix®) developed, respectively, tools such as Nuts & Bolts®, Norton Utilities® and FixIt® in order to do more advanced defragmenting processes. On its own merits, Executive Software® developed Diskeeper®, an even more sophisticated tool that defragments in a continuous manner, non-stop and without user intervention, the hard disks of those computers with operating systems like Microsoft® Windows 95® and Microsoft® Windows 98® connected through a LAN to a server that has installed Microsoft® Windows NT®.
Who Benefits From Defragmenters?
Evidently, the benefits offered by existing defragmenters on the market are only for the user who employs them. In addition, if basic tools to defragment a hard disk are commonly unknown to the beginner, the sophisticated ones are even more so.
For that reason, while the inexperienced user perceives the damage but does not know about the cause or the solution, the advanced user, in contrast, does. The latter understands that performance degradation in a computer takes place because of hard disk fragmentation, and that the only way to solve such drawback, as tedious as it may appear, is to turn to programs that defragment the disk to a lesser or greater degree. In addition, this advanced user knows, much to his/her distress, that such process must be done once and again, on a regular basis, if the best possible computer performance is desired.
Defragmenting a Hard Disk, How Often Must it be Done?
In several articles published in specialized magazines, the authors really advise to defragment the hard disk of a computer on a regular basis. Some recommend once a month, at least. Others state the frequency depends on the kind of jobs the user carries out because such determines the fragmentation that will take place. There are others, however, that recommend defragmenting a hard disk every two weeks, and yet others who even claim that once a week is necessary, in order to minimize fragmentation and maintain computer performance in optimal state.
To top it all, the latest versions of defragmenters included in McAfee Utilities®, by Network Associates®, and Diskeeper®, by Executive Software®, establish the maximum suggested frequency that can be applied when defragmenting a hard disk configured by way of, under “the influence of”, the so called traditional techniques. According to them, the best file defragmentation is the one that keeps going on as the user works, in a non-stop fashion, in a continuous way, without user intervention.
Existing Differences Between this Invention and the Traditional Techniques
Once the previous arguments have been explained, it is possible to examine with more detail those features that differentiate this invention from the so-called traditional techniques currently used. Above and beyond the defragmenting tools available on the market, which include (1) patents that protect algorithms to defragment non-volatile storage medium, there are also (2) patents that protect the way files are reorganized in a hard disk in order to reduce fragmentation recurrence. Besides that, there are also (3) patents that protect unique algorithms to defragment certain kind of files.
Traditional solutions against fragmentation known up-to-date, however, patented or not, (1) offer temporary remedies to a phenomenon of recurring nature; or else, offer partial solutions when compared against the present invention. (2) These solutions are based in the aforementioned traditional configuration of a non-volatile storage medium—a configuration that has at least twenty years of existence, in the same conditions, in the case of hard disks integrated within “IBM® PC compatible” computers. To top it all, (3) such solutions offer little benefit to the user when compared with this invention.
The present invention differs and moves away from the preceding since it applies the following adage: “The healthiest house is not the one that is cleaned the most, but the one soiled the least”. This invention minimizes the effects of file fragmentation and, accordingly, it maintains the best possible performance of a computer, for considerably longer periods than what is achievable with the traditional techniques. Likewise, this invention uses an innovative configuration as its foundation, radically different from that currently offered by the manufacturers of computers, operating systems and software applications. This invention differs, as well, from the optimization techniques proposed by existing patents; and, it is the result of many years of research and successful tests carried out since the middle of 1999 on numerous computers, by real users.
An additional feature that sets this invention apart is that it provides the user with a proven set of benefits, unattainable simultaneously using the traditional techniques, available hardware and software tools, existing patents, or published propositions, whether such alternatives are applied alone or in combination. Among these benefits, the following stand out: (1) offer the best available performance of a computer, making it even better than when the equipment was new. (2) Provide a better security scheme for user's files which makes possible (a) to minimize the damages caused by virus attacks, Internet intrusions, and power failures; (b) to keep valuable information commonly lost with the traditional techniques of restoring, reinstalling and updating software; and (c) to create backup copies in an easier, faster, more complete and effective way. (3) Obtain a new optimized defragmentation process that becomes more effective and less tiresome than the traditional defragmentation. (4) Provide the user with savings of at least 70%, and, in some cases, more than 90%, in issues such as (a) the time taken away from the user when optimizing the performance of his/her computer by defragmenting the main non-volatile storage medium; (b) machine wear induced during such process; and (c) energy consumption derived from those activities. And finally, (5) offer the best cost-benefit ratio due to maximizing, on one side, the benefits obtained by the user; and, on the other, minimizing the investment needed, because this invention can be applied in new computers as well as used ones.